Photojournalist: Eric Meola

Title: "Tornado, Prospect Valley, Colorado"

Eric Meola: "Tornado, Prospect Valley, Colorado," 2018

Eric Meola became interested in storms during a 1977 road trip across Nevada to photograph an album cover for musician Bruce Springsteen. He soon began to photograph the tornadic storms of the Great Plains. Over a period of several years, he documented a landscape of elemental forces, where immense storms percolate miles above the ground, rotating with energy until tornadoes spin on the horizon. His 2019 book "Fierce Beauty: Storms of the Great Plains" includes more than 100 photographs of tornadoes, lightning, dust storms and storm phenomena.

Eric Meola

Eric Meola studied photography at the Newhouse School of Journalism at Syracuse University and graduated with a B.A. in English literature. His photographs are included in the archives of the American Society of Media Photographers, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the George Eastman Museum. His books include "India: In Word & Image" (2008); "Fierce Beauty: Storms of the Great Plains" (2019); and "Bending Light: The Moods of Color" (2024). In 2023, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professional Photographers of America. Meola has traveled throughout the world and is recognized for the brilliant use of color in his photography. One of his most famous photos, "Coca (Cola) Kid," was taken in Haiti. It appeared in a 1997 issue of LIFE magazine as one of the "100 Magnificent Moments of the Past 1,000 Years."

Signed by photographer

Image size: 24 x 30 inches (landscape)

Framed size: 26.5 x 31 inches